Collision: new life and death; the people and the park

I love New York.

Mostly because of the people walking the streets,

but also because of its most prized possession in my eyes...

-Central Park-

We went there awhile back about this time of year.

It was still cold and steel gray outside, but Spring was just

beginning to emerge out of the brush...

It was on our walk through the park that the two things I love

most about the city collided.

On the end of a park bench, next to the flowers above,

 sat a coverless green book.

[I have been sitting here trying to remember what the title page

read, but I just can't bring it to mind]

What does stand out was the scribbled inscription

and sad face on the back of the front cover.

"If you are reading this its too late"

My stomach still feels sick when I think about it.

I wonder how long that person sat on the bench before

laying the book down? How long had it been there?

How many people have read it?

Rob tried to convince me of some less dramatic and

much more whimsical idea of why the book had been

left with that particular inscription.

But I think deep down we both hurt for the owner.

[I tend to be a pessimisstic person, but for some reason I have a great sense of hope for the person who scribbled in pencil on the page of that book. Something about the way the lines moved. I wonder how long before he/she was able to push aside that aching in his/her chest and the weight of their limbs.]